As Dawn Fades to Dusk
by InterpretiveFruit
Summary: Living in Bavaria, Germany, life was simple for Jolanka Abendroth. Well at least until she heard the word 'mutant' cross the doctors lips... until her parent threw her out, claiming that she was a monster... Until HE took interest in her cursed powers. Now, Jolan must repair the damage to her soul and learn to survive in this strange new world that defies reality itself. Kurt/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing but my OC Jolan. All other characters are property of Marvel.

**Author's Note:**

This is my first fan fiction EVER. Ive never written anything like this before... nor shown any of my writing to anyone. So if at times my grammar is out-of-wack and my spelling is similar to a kindergartener's, I apologize. I'll most likely be posting a chapter every month. Yea, I know its slow, but I'm an extremely slow writer and I want to make sure everything is perfect before I post it. I hope you enjoy my story and please leave a review! I could definitely use some helpful feedback. And now... on with the story!

**Chapter 1:** **Prologue- Where to Lay Your Faith**

Location: HOF BAVARIA, GERMANY Time: 11:00 PM

An icing agony shot up through her feet as they pounded against the rocky soil. Using the crescent moon as a guide, the lone girl raced across the dense forest. Conversely… she wasn't truly alone. Her pursuers were drawing close: ten armed men just yards away. The girl, 18 years of age, was certain she could feel their warm breaths on the back of her neck. Time seemed to drain on as both the girl and her pursuers wondered how much longer this could last. The girl was growing tired as her feet slowly turned to stone and her heart skipped every other beat. The men… were growing tired from chasing the agile girl for three hours strait.

Just in time, an open clearing became visible through the thick vegetation. All eyes widened in response.

"vis is mine chance," the girl thought.

"Finally," the men mentally sighed.

One after another, the girl and her pursuers broke into the open field, only to be faced with another group of slightly more "unusual" people. In front of them stood a man with metal knives extending from his hands, a white haired woman with pale white eyes, A tall man with red tinted goggles, and a blue skinned man with a devil like tail.

"Just ven I sought—gasp- my life –gasp- kouldn't –gasp- get any vorse.." the girl whispered in-between lay bored breaths.

The girl, for once in her life, was torn. She had two options: go back to die in the hands of the bounty hunters or… step forward to die in the hands of mutants. Both did not seem very pleasing.

"Leave the girl alone," commanded the white haired woman as she began to hover and lightning sparked from inside her

The obvious leader of the men stepped forward, gun in hand. "In your dreams freaks," he taunted, "she's ours and were not leaving here without her."

"I don't think you know who you dealing with bub," the clawed mutant bitterly jabbed.

The goggle man spoke next: "Nightcrawler, you get the girl. Storm and Wolverine, help me deal with the humans." He spewed the last word as if it were poison—a burden to cross his tongue.

All at once, the clearing sprung into action. Sulphur smoke erupted from were the blue mutant stood as bounty hunters open fired on both the mutants and the girl. The girl herself could barely register the commotion around her. Some bounty hunters seemed to be knocked down by beams of red light, while others seemed to be fried with enough electricity just to make them pass out. Well... at least it seemed like they were unconscious; The girl did not know, nor did she care to stay long enough to find out. What was more concerning to her at that moment was the blue arms and two fingered hands encircling her body. Before she could duck from the embrace, a blue smoke cloud emitted from the devil like mutant enveloped them both. They reappeared in an identical cloud at the opposite side of the clearing, a couple paces away from an enormous black jet.

"vaah..?" the girl tried to speak before she was cut off by her captor…

"You komen vis us and I promise no harm vill kome to you"

"How…. How kan I know you shpeak das truth?" she panted. All the girl got in response was pleading, bright yellow eyes, and a slight tug on her arm in the direction of the jet. That was enough for her…she could see truth radiating from those golden orbs. The girl gave into the pull and let her captor… well now escort… lead her quickly up the jet's loading ramp. As the blue mutant directed her to a chair he spoke softly…

"Please siten sie down. I vill shtart zee jet and zee others vill be here shtortly"

"Vait…" she called, extending a scrawny, yet delicate arm out from her chest. "Who are you?"

"I am Kurt Wagner, but in zee Munich Circus I vas know as zee Incredible Nightcrawler," he said with a slight smirk… "and vee…vee are zee X-Men. No harm vill kome to you," he repeated, "I promise".

As soon as Knightcrawler's back turned to the girl, panic swept up through her body. She didn't realize it before, but he reminded her of the safety of her home… if she could call it that anymore. Without his golden gaze on her, the size of the jet suddenly became impending. The girl curled in her fading violet limbs tightly as she stiffened against the chair. She heard footsteps approaching from behind and as a reflex, the girl pressed herself further into the slightly cushioned chair-back. One, two, three footsteps, she counted… It must be the rest of the x-men. Mentally the girl released a sigh and let her body physically relaxed. By then all of the violet (a side effect of stress or use of her powers) had left her skin. "Vye do I feel so komfortable around zem?" she thought as the three mutants approached her. The single woman spoke first…

"Hello young one, my name is Ororo, but you may call me Storm. This is Logan, also known as Wolverine." She said pointing to the man with the long sliver claws. As Ororo spoke, Logan's claws receded back into his knuckles. The girls eyes widened in response…

"Relax kido," Logan teased, "that's_ probably_ the only place the spikes come out."

Not understanding that Logan was joking, the girl's widened eyes started to tremble.

"Logan, stop messing with her," the goggled man ordered, "can't you see that your just scaring her even more." With that said, the goggled man turned and spoke directly to the girl: "I apologize for Wolverine's behaviour; he usually isn't aloud on rescue missions. I'm Scott by the way, but you can also call me Cyclops." As the goggled man spoke, he reached a hand out towards the girl, prompting her to shake it. The girl was reluctant to make contact but she soon took the man's hand in greeting.

"Dee jet is ready for flight Ororo," Nightcrawler spoke as he re-entered the passenger cabbing, flashing a quick worried glance at the girl.

"Thank you Kurt"

"Bitte, gern geschehen," the blue mutant graciously replied with a slight bow. He, along with the other X-men proceeded to take their seats. Ororo made her way to the flight control room as Logan turned toward the girl once more.

"You might want to buckle up sweetheart, this is going to be a _**long**_ ride"


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing but my OC Jolan. All other characters are property of Marvel.

**Chapter 2: So Tight You Could Cut It With A Knife **

Location: NORTH SALEM, NEW YORK Time: 1:30 AM

**3****rd**** person point of view**

After what seemed like an awkward eternity, the X-Jet landed firmly at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning. One by one the X-Men began to unstrap from their respective seats and exit from the jet's ramp. Nightcrawler was the last to leave, escorting the girl from her seat.

"Bitte, followen sie me," Kurt spoke as he directed her toward the front of the institute. Both Kurt and the girl noticed his English slipping, but neither mentioned it; after all, the girl understood him just fine. The other X-Men, however, were puzzled: Kurt usually spoke relatively well English, only using German for simple phrases like "please", "thank you", and "your welcome". Before anyone had the chance to bring up Kurt's change in habits, the Professor broadcasted a message into the group's heads:

"Ororo and Nightcrawler, please bring our new guest to my study, we have much to discus. Wolverine and Cyclops, your are released from your duties for tonight."

Head pivoting frantically, the girl looked around in confusion, as the X-men seemed to freeze were they were standing. Ororo noticed the worried look on the girl's face. Part of Storm wanted to find out why the girl could not receive the message, but her motherly instincts took over, telling her to comfort the girl instead.

"Don't worry little one, that was just the professor. He wants to meet with you in his study. Nightcrawler and I will occupancy you so you don't get lost."

"Oooh.." the girl spoke, "is zee professor a telepath?"

"One of die bests in zee vorld," Kurt chimed in with a small smile.

A few minutes later, the group of three found themselves at the entrance to the professor's study.

"Please come in." the professor called through the large oak double doors.

Nightcrawler disappeared in a cloud of smoke and opened the right door from within the study. He gestured for Ororo and the girl to come inside.

"Ladies first," the blue mutant spoke with a slight smirk as he stared directly into the girl's eyes.

"Danke," the girl thanked with a slight nod, stepping past Nightcralwer and into the large, open study. Sitting behind a mahogany colored desk at the far end of the room was a composed, completely bald man in a wheel chair

"Thank you for coming to see me today," the Professor began. You may be wondering why I had my team bring you here…

"Entschuldigun_g_ for interruptink professor," the girl spoke, "but I vould first and formerly like to sank you and zyour team. If it vere not for zem, I vould not be here to brink."

It was obvious to the professor that the young girl had only recently learned English, but what intrigued him more was her politeness and good manners. The young girl did not look like one who would care about formalities—especially with her hair full of twigs and leaves and her clothes ripped to shreds. In fact, the professor observed, most in her situation would have lost composure and long time ago. But if he had learned anything from directing the institute for the past 15 years, it was not to judge a book by its cover.

To everyone in the room, the professor's analysis could only be noticed by a slightly longer than normal pause before he politely returned the young girls gesture:

"Don't worry child, it was our pleasure to help out a fellow mutant."

The girl flinched slightly as the word mutant crossed the professor's lips, but she quickly regained her composure and she nodded in respect to his intended-to-be, kind words.

"Now, as I was saying before, I would like to explain why we have brought you here. But before we begin, tell me first child, what is your name?"

A long silence filled the study, as everyone seemed to hold his or her breath. For what seemed like ages everyone had solely referred to her as "the girl", not even bothering to inquire what her actual name was. The young girl herself never offered a name and the professor was unable to use Cerebro to find it before he ordered the rescue mission. So, that left them here: hanging on the next words to fall out of this young woman's mouth.

The girl clearly noticed the tension in the room and brought her voice down so she would not shatter the silence with too great a force. In a clear, almost whisper, the girl spoke:

"Jolanka… Jolanka Abendroth, but you may callen mi Jolan."

"It is a pleasure to meet you Miss Abendroth," the professor continued with his greeting speech, "I am Professor Xavier and I would officially like to welcome you to my school for mutants—or as the public knows us: The Xavier Institute for Higher Learning. At the Institute we provide a safe home for many mutants and encourage them to unlock their full potential.

I have brought you here today due to your unfortunate circumstances; I hope to offer you a safe haven from these troubles with an invitation to join us here at the Institute. So, Miss Abendroth, what do you think of my proposal? Would you be willing to enrol or at least stay with us for a short period of time?

Again, all eyes fell on the girl, eagerly awaiting her answer. "Danke for die generous offer Professor Xafier, but I do not haf anzee money to pay for zie enrolment at such a prestigious school… let alone anzee money at all…."

"That is quite alright my dear," the professor cut in, "You need not worry about paying for your stay here, you would be welcomed as a guest, just like all of my other pupils."

"Vell in dat kase Professor Xafier, I vould be happy to accepten zyour offer." Jolanka said with a huge grin

"Wonderful," the professor replied, "Welcome to mutant mansion Miss Abendroth. Tomorrow you will have a session at 12:00 AM to discussing your current academic levels with miss Ororo. We hope to create a balanced class schedule suited to your skill levels. At 1:00 AM you will also meet with me to discus your abilities and training schedule. For this evening, Mr. Wagner will show you to your dormitory. Breakfast is served at 8:00 am tomorrow morning. After we eat I hope Kurt will be free to give you a tour around the school before your meeting with Ororo?"

This last comment made by Professor Xavier was slightly directed at the fuzzy blue mutant himself, so Kurt acknowledged him with a quick "Of kourse Professor X, It vould be mine pleasure" and a slight bow.

Nodding to Kurt, the professor continued to speak. "Very well then. It was a pleasure meeting you miss Abendroth and I am happy you have chosen to stay with us. Kurt will take you to your dormitory now."

"Danke" – "Danke" both Kurt and Jolanka said at the same time as they left the Professor's study, leaving him with Ororo.

Kurt graciously held out his arm to Jolanka as the two started their moderately long walk to the student dormitories. The girl hooked her arm on Kurt's and let him escort her through the school. A few minutes into their walk they heard a nearby grandfather clock ring out the time.

"God," Nightcrawler yawned, "2 AM das not zee time to be avake Miss Abendroth."

"Bitte callen me Jolan." She said with a yawn of her own.

"As you vish liebchen." He replied with a slight smirk

Jolan raised her eyebrow at Kurt's use of the German pet name. She appeared to be slightly amused, when in fact the girl was trying to conceal a blush that was turning her cheeks a bright shade of magenta. With a light chuckle, Nightcrawler stopped in front of a large oak door. The pair had been walking down a long hallway filled with doors of identical stature for a while now. Jolan realized that this must be were the students slept.

As if reading her thoughts Nightcrawler began to speak: "Ja Engel, zis vill be your room for zyour time stayink vis us. Oh, and do not vorry, I am only one room to zyour left." Then, lowering his voice slightly and resting a two fingered hand on Jolan's shoulder, he continued: "If you effer needen anythink, do not hesitate to ask liebchen."

Jolan thanked Kurt for his kind words and they bid each other goodnight. The girl slipped into her room as the benevolent-yet devil like- mutant disappeared in a thick cloud of sulphur smoke. Jolan then proceeded to collapse on her new bed as a familiar wave of exhaustion took hold. The Girl fell into a dreamless sleep: still fully clothed and covered in debris.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing but my OC Jolan. All other characters are property of Marvel.

**Chapter 3: HIM**

Location: XAVIER INSTITUTE FOR HIGHER LEARNING Time: 6:30 AM

**3****rd**** person point of view**

Sunlight stretched over Jolanka Abendroth's eyes as golden rays seeped through clear glass windows. Raising one eyelid, Jolan peered at the digital clock rested on the nightstand before her. It's irritating red numbers indicated that it was only 6:30 in the morning. Jolan considered going back to sleep until she realized that the professor would be expecting her down at breakfast in only 90 minutes… and she was in desperate need of a shower.

After fully awaking, Jolan sat upright in her bed assessing her surroundings. Sunlight from two large windows and clear double doors leading to a balcony illuminated the room. The dark tan walls were covered with exquisite artworks and from the slightly-of-white ceiling hung a breath-taking glass light-fixture. The clearly expensive, mahogany furniture included two night tables, a large dresser, and a desk accompanied with a chair.

Jolan's eyes fell on a second door that was similar to the one leading out of her room. Hopping out of bed, she crossed the lavish room with the intensions of discovering what was behind the door. Jolan assumed it was just a closet of some sorts; she was completely blown away when she discovered her own bathroom. "The Professor must be efen more generous zen I prefiously sought." Jolan whispered to herself as she stepped onto the cold tile of the bathroom.

After a brief moment of observing the small room, Jolan's hands made their way to the shower's nob and with a slight twist, they started the flow of water. Jolan then proceeded to shut the bathroom door, undress, and step into the now warm spray of the shower. She could feel the layers of dirt being lifted from her skin and the twigs falling from her long wavy brown hair. A sigh of relief escaped her lips as Jolan's mind wandered elsewhere.

**Jolanka's point of view**

I couldn't help it as my mind drifted to Him… the scientist. Well that's what he liked to call himself, but we both know he was just a demonic asshole with a god complex and a curiosity for how mutants worked. For months he had trapped me in a small cell, chained to a pathetic excuse for a bed—practically a metal bench. The only time my surroundings changed was when one of his men came with food… which only happened twice a day… or when they brought me to his lab.

Just thinking of that laboratory sent shivers down my spine. I couldn't even bring myself to reflect on the horrible things he did to me, the experiments he performed, without any anaesthetics. Just looking down at my body now, I could see the countless scars that never truly healed properly. With each scar came an unspeakable story.

It took me a very long time to escape his grasp; I finally realized that he was poisoning me through my daily meals. After hiding my food for a weak, I was starving, but I finally became my own person again. My tortured mind was cleared and I eventually retained control over my cursid powers. On a routine escort to His laboratory I managed to take down the guards and break out of the building that held me for so long. The warm water currently rolling off my face reminds me of the heavy tears of joy I cried that day.

After I finished soaping up my body and combing out my hair, I turned the shower off and stepped my feet onto the cold-tiled, bathroom floor. My thoughts once again returned to the present as I saw my reflection in the bathroom mirror. Staring back at me was no longer the girl I once was, but the shell of a human, inhabited by an even emptier mutant. No…no… I can't wallow in self-pity now; I need to focus on the present. And currently, currently my present included getting ready for breakfast. Breakfast was a term I hadn't heard in a long time before it crossed the professor's lips. It was almost strange the sense of normality I felt here- considering I was surrounded by what society would call freaks of nature.

I walked back into my new bedroom dawning a large fluffy white towel. Even before I realized that I would need new clothes, my eyes fell upon the freshly made bed. Lying on top of the sheets was on outfit; Surprisingly, It was just my style.

Side by side lay a V-neck black sleeveless shirt, a dark violet vest, a pleated black skirt, purple socks, and black converse shoes. My rags from last night, along with my own brown messenger bag, were flooded neatly and placed above the fresh clothes.

Letting the towel fall to the floor, I wasted no time putting on the magically-appearing clothes. After dressing, I reached into my bag and pulled out a pair of violet, fingerless gloves. That bag was the only possession I had during my stay with the scientist. Well the bag, and its contents really. It wasn't much, but it included a violet dragon necklace, my gloves, and a dark purple watch. The watch was the only thing that kept me grounded as I dived in and out of consciousness after one of the scientist's procedures. Without it, I wouldn't know that I had spent 187 days in his "care."

I stretched the gloves over my now slightly violet hands. God, just thinking about Him stressed me out, and I wasn't even using my powers! With deep breaths I returned to the bathroom to put my hair into an intricate, high braid. By the time I had finished, the mirror revealed pale, almost porcelain skin and golden brown eyes. Good. I didn't want to freak everyone out by my appearance on the first day. Sure, everyone here would be a mutant, but very few mutants actually have anything different in their physical appearance.

A knock sounded on my door and I glanced at the alarm clock before turning the door handle. It read 7:50… someone must be coming to take me to breakfast. As if on cue, I came face to face with the Incredible Nightcrawler. "I haf comen to take you to breakfast liebchen." Kurt spoke with his arm held out waiting for Jolan to take it. "And may I say you look beautiful in die klothes Jane picked out."

With a magenta blush I take his arm and softly reply: "Who is Jane?"

"Oh, you vill meet her soon enough liebchen. Everyone at die mansion is fery eager to meet you as vell. Professor X efen requested vee eat formally in zee dinnink hall today so you kan be introduced to eferyone."

Deep breaths, I told myself, deep breaths.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing but my OC Jolan. All other characters are property of Marvel.

**Chapter 4: A Meal to be Remembered**

Location: XAVIER INSTITUTE FOR HIGHER LEARNING Time: 8:00 AM

**3****rd**** person point of view**

The Dinning hall was buzzing with voices from over a hundred students as Nightcrawler escorted Jolanka through the large double doors. A wave of relief surged over Jolan when very few heads turned to meet her gaze; She had always hated being the center of attention.

Nightcrawler escorted her to a table with what seemed like older students and teachers. Jolan noticed Ororo, Wolverine and Cyclops from her rescue mission yesterday sitting near the head of the table. At the very end sat the professor with a small smile on his face. It seemed that Logan and Scott were in a heated argument as a red headed woman seated next to Scott just kept shaking her head. The scene in front of her brought a smile of her own to Jolanka's face. "Again," she thought, "ser is such an overvhelming sense of normalcy here."

Professor X motioned for Jolan to take the seat to his right and she graciously complied. Nightcrawler simply made his way to the other end of the table and pulled out a seat for himself. After greeting Miss Abendroth, the professor simply held up a glass and klinked it to get the attention of those seated at the table.

"I would like to introduce to you our newest student Miss Jolanka Abendroth. Miss Abendroth, these fine ladies and gentlemen are the members of the X-men: a peacekeeping organization we run out of the Institute. Perhaps after some training you will consider joining them."

Professor Xavier continued to introduce Jolan to the mutants at the table. A large blue apelike mutant in a three-piece suit was introduced to tally as Doctor Henry McCoy. Next was the red head from before, Doctor Jean Grey. Following the doctors came Bobby Drake, Katherine Pryde, Peter Rasputin, and a mysterious girl with the single name of Rogue. Of course all of the other students had code names, but Jolan was still concentrating on remembering just their real names. For a brief moment, she wondered why everyone here seemed to go by two different names, but she quick realized it was probably for security purposes.

**Jolanka's point of view**

My head turned to Katherine Pryde- Shadowcat or Kitty if I remember correctly- as she began to speak.

"So Jolanka, what's your power? How 'bout your mutant name? Where ya from? I heard Logan an' the gang picked you up in Germany… are you from there?"

The eager girl was about my age, and judging by her hyperness, I would say she was either a huge morning person with a love of coffee, or diagnosed with ADHD. Breaking out of my normal shy composure I joked, "vould you like me to answer your questions or are you kontent vith just askink more?" This brought a laugh from many of the mutants seated at the table and a sly grin from Kurt as he fought back a laugh of his own. Kitty seemed unfazed by the sarcasm and continued.

"Oh cool you really are from Germany. I love the accent by the way… It's kinda like Kurt's, but thicker. Is English your second language? Can you speak German?"

Before answering, I chucked to myself at the chaos coming from the girl. "To answer zyour questions Kitty: I vould rather not demonstrate mine povers in here and I do not have vat you kall a mutant name. As for mine nationality, I am in fakt German and grew up in Hof Bafaria, Germany. English is onze mine secont language, secont to German zat is."

The young Kitty Pryde simple replied, "coool" with a large grin stretched across her face.

From then on breakfast went by in a blur. A couple more questions were thrown at me and I answered them with relative ease. What I was more focused on was the food. I was Starving and the food was absolutely amazing; it was much better than the mush I had been eating for the past couple of months. And surprisingly… poison free. I was practically inhaling the stuff until Kurt shot me an amused look which practically screamed "Slow down or your gonna kill yourself with food." After that I made sure to actually chew before I swallowed.

At around 8:45 breakfast was over and Nightcrawler, once again, escorted me out of the dinning room. On our way out, Kurt introduced me to some younger mutants that had been seated at another table. Everyone here was so friendly I felt like I was in a dream. After being kicked out by my own family at age 15 when my powers manifested, I guess I just don't understand kindness anymore.

The tour of the mansion Kurt led me on was amazing. He showed me the dormitories of course and the industrial sized kitchen: were students were expected to make their own meals with provided food. Kurt told me that every once and a while, Professor X would throw a grand meal, with all of the students, for special occasions-like he did this morning.

Nightcrawler also led me to the medical wing were I had a brief conversation with Dr Jean Grey. I felt very uncomfortable when her eyes started to trail the scars on my body… that and knowing she may be reading my mind didn't exactly make me feel like unicorns and kittens. I think Kurt felt my discomfort with the young doctor and politely excused us from her presence.

We then made our way to the laboratories where I had a wonderful discussion with Dr Henry McCoy about the differences between physically showing and hidden mutations. What I found quite interesting was that we both harboured some jealousy towards normal looking mutants.

As it turns out, Dr McCoy, or Hank as he's told me to call him, actually made his physical mutation worse by trying to appear more "human". When I expressed interest in the methods he used to try to get rid of his physical mutation, Hank warned me against pursuing such a course.

The only thing Kurt had to say on the jealousy subject is that "people are onzee frightened of us because zey zemselfs do not understand". I could tell he wanted to say something else… but I guess he didn't want to voice all of his opinion just yet.

…

To be honest, I was a little bit upset about having to leave the laboratories, but Kurt insisted that we keep moving. He seemed eager to get to our next location: a little extra bounce in each of his quick, two toed steps. After a couple minutes of walking we reached another large wooden door.

"Zis is dah ving of zee school vith all of zee classrooms. And zis classroom just happens to be mine." Kurt said with a proud look on his face. "I teach all of zee German klasses here at sie mansion, but I also taken a few klasses myself."

"Oh, vat are sie klasses you take?"

"Vell, training for starters, I am in zee X-men after all. In mine free time I also taken an acting klass."

"I love seatre! Mine Eltern took me sere all zee time ven I vas little! Although I hafen no real skills mineself…"

I saw Kurt's mouth brake into a large smile, his overly sharp canines glistening under the classroom lights. Almost mesmerized by his by display of joy, I missed what the blue mutant was saying to me.

"Entschuldigen Sie, vat did you say?

"I said leibchen, zat you should joinen das acting class vife me! Don't worry about skills, for ser are students of all lefels."

My confused face relaxed and I let a small smile cross my lips. With a quick nod and gleaming eyes, I replied, "I vould love to."


End file.
